[M3 Mitch]

Got a woodstove? Maybe time to get one? Or how about coal?

Propane and fuel oil are a bad deal now and probably will get worse.

What I have done for propane (yes, our house has an old propane forced air furnace, I wouldn't buy one today, but it came with the house...) is bought my own 500-gallon tank and then make one big buy in the fall, when the price generally hits an annual low.

Having said that, we depend almost exclusively on a woodstove for space heat. That and small electric portable heaters - but the woodstove is the main thing.

[patty423]

I use propane to cook only. I just got a delivery the other day and after reading this thread was curious how much I pay (yes I'm ashamed to say I didn't know). Thank god I don't heat with propane, my cost is 5.15 per gal. yikes thats a lot. I'm in Long Island and I have a tank on the side of my house that they come and swap out, so I know I don't own the tank. I get about 3 deliveries per year, about 23 gallons each time. Between heating my house (oil) and cooking I spend a fortune on fuel. So I feel your pain.

[Logs and Dogs]

$2.72 2 weeks ago in December........287 gallons $781.

[rustyjack]

You you must be a large user of propane. Sounds like you have at least a 500 gal tank. Do you own the tank?
I think these companies try to make as much on the use of their tanks as they do on the actual propane. I peeked at their price list and the smallest user ...0-25 gals ..was being charged $5.65/gal.
My there were about 12-15 price classifications, rising by about .30/gal each time.
They don't sell fuel oil this way...everyone owns their tank.
I think a flat monthly tank rental charge would be more fair, than penalizing customers for conserving.

Back a few years ago, my company had a policy that if you did not use at least one full tank per calendar year, you were charged a service fee equal to the price of what you did not use. I had to battle with them then as to when they scheduled the deliveries, as it would always affect my calendar year usage. When I told them to stop automatic delivery, they agreed to drop the service fees. Now they get me with the usage classifications and higher prices per gal for less usage. Can't win I guess, but I'll keep trying.

[Logs and Dogs]

I assume you were asking me about the pricing etc.

Yes we have a 500 gal tank buried in the yard, brand new in April (along with the new cabin we built). The tank is Amerigas’s and we pay on a budget plan each month. We originally got about 400 gallons to start in April and this was our next fill up. I wouldn’t say we are power users of propane but we will most likely burn through about 600 gallons per year. The heat is propane hot water BB but is only really used to keep the house at 57 during the week, the woodstove gets me to 68-72 on the weekends. The hot water tank is also propane as well as the stove, so all in all we burn through about 5-10 gals on ave per week is my guess.

They originally had me at $200/mo since they had no history to go on…………we have since dropped it to $97/mo, thankfully as $200/mo was more than I pay for oil in our MA house which we work from, so it is heated about 5 days per week above 57.

[High_Plains_Retired]

Originally Posted by rustyjack

I'd like to get an idea what others are paying for a gallon of propane.

I'm not in Vermont but for possible interstate comparison purposes, three days ago, I paid $2.48 per gallon in the Texas southern High Plains (West Texas). Three months ago, I paid $2.00 per gallon.

[rustyjack]

I tried to call a competitor company up here today. There are very few choices. When I asked what the price per gal would be, all they would give was an "introductory price" which was about $1.00 per gallon less than I paid.
I told them I didn't want to know an introductory price....how much would I be charged per gallon right now if I where a regular customer using X amount of gals per year? They would not answer...said they couldn't tell because I was not a regular customer. Such BS!

[arctichomesteader]

I've known people who don't use a lot to use 100 pound propane tanks and bring them to get refilled as you would for a grill. Not sure if it would come out cheaper though.

[GypsySoul22]

I just saw the guy delivering to the complex, so that means another bill. I guess this one will be a whopper with all the cold weather.

Also they jack up the price and we have no choice in the matter.

Yet another wonderful thing about renting.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by GypsySoul22

I just saw the guy delivering to the complex, so that means another bill. I guess this one will be a whopper with all the cold weather.

Also they jack up the price and we have no choice in the matter.

Yet another wonderful thing about renting.

I hate renting. I have this nice woodstove and I could get cord after cord of free firewood if I needed it, but I can't...